


Camelot Academy

by Fan637637



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Angst, Arthur is the history teacher, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Happy Ending, M/M, Merlin is the art teacher, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Arthur, Oblivious Merlin, Pining, Uther is the headteacher, they all teach at a school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-10 01:09:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15280260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fan637637/pseuds/Fan637637
Summary: Arthur has been pining for Merlin since Merlin joined the teaching staff at Camelot Academy. Merlin has been pining for Arthur for almost the same amount of time.With just a bit of intervention from staff and students alike, the two may finally get their shit together.





	1. Chapter 1

Camelot Academy had been Arthur's school years 7 through 13 and honestly it was mostly the same; the headmaster was the same, a lot of the members of staff had taught Arthur, even the classrooms were pretty much identical to the way he had left them on his last day 10 years ago. The headmaster was an intimidating man who probably could have led an army or ruled a kingdom in another life; he governed with an iron fist and was feared by students and staff alike. He was also Arthur's father: Uther Pendragon. 

Every year, without fail, the first day back after the Summer holidays made Arthur regret ever becoming a teacher. The first day back meant that Arthur had to endure a hellish assembly, new members of staff, the usual Summer catch-ups with old staff he couldn't give less of a shit about and he had to face the task over the coming weeks of making an impression on the two new years of students: the year 7s, and the external year 12s. But worst of all, worse than trying not to fall asleep during the same speech from the headmaster he had heard for 4 years, worse than engaging new colleagues, worse than listening to the French teacher attempting to flirt with him and worse than a bunch of hyperactive 11-year-olds and disillusioned 16-year-olds, was Merlin. Merlin Emrys, the outspoken art teacher with legs so tantalizingly long Arthur was honestly sure they should be made illegal, on whom Arthur had been nursing a painful crush for nearly two years. The year that Merlin had joined the staff, Arthur had been ill for the first few days so he didn't actually meet the man until the second week. 

     

     _Arthur swore when he heard the morning bell ring as he was getting out of his car, signalling that he was in fact late. Normally it would go unnoticed by Uther, but Tuesday morning meant he had to attend the weekly staff meeting. Said staff meeting started at 8:30 and there was no way Arthur could slip in without being spotted. He grabbed his briefcase, shut the car door and rushed to reception to sign in before speed-walking (he could practically hear his father telling him not to run in the corridors back in his own school days) to the staff room. Even now the fact that there was no window in the door to the staff room instilled a great fear into him; he was entering into the unknown. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open, just enough to fit through the gap, hoping not to cause too much disruption._

_'Ah, there you are, Mr Pendragon.'_

_Arthur cursed inwardly as his father addressed him, causing all eyes to turn and look at him._

_'Apologies, sir, I had trouble starting my car this morning,' he explained, before casting a quick glance around the room and moving to sit in the one free chair, annoyed because it wasn't next to Lance as usual; it was next to someone he didn't recognize. What's more, this man had already turned his attention to Uther, and Arthur realised it was likely yet another wet-nosed newbie read to kiss any arse he could to please people._

_At the end of the meeting, through which Arthur had paid no attention, the newbie turned to look at Arthur, and Arthur had to hold back a gasp. From the moment those stunningly blue eyes, framed by cheekbones so sharp they could likely kill a man, met his own, Arthur knew he was so very screwed._

_'Hi there, we haven't met. I'm Merlin Emrys, the new art teacher.' The newbie - Merlin - held out his hand to Arthur as they stood up to leave._

_'Arthur Pendragon, history teacher,' replied Arthur, returning the handshake. The new art teacher. Merlin was teaching in the art department. Merlin was the new art teacher teaching in the art department. That changed things. There was no way that Merlin was going to be kissing Uther's arse if he had joined the undisputed worst-treated, most under-funded department in the whole school._

 

            Since that first meeting, Arthur and Merlin had sat next to each other in the Tuesday morning briefing every single week, and it transpired that his first impression of Merlin had be so far off of the mark, that he wouldn't even know how to go about finding said mark anymore. Merlin's first impression of Arthur, as the art teacher had revealed a few weeks later, was only strengthened every time they spoke, or so Merlin claimed. 

 

     _'You know, when we first met I thought you were an utter prat.'_

_Arthur looked up from where he was sat to see Merlin walking over with two steaming mugs of coffee, one of which - the black one with no sugar - he placed in front of Arthur. He took the coffee gratefully and raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow in an arch that the old chemistry teacher Gaius would be proud of. 'Oh?'_

_'Yeah. You came in to the meeting late, trying to be subtle but completely failing, before coming up with some bullshit excuse and then sitting through the rest of the meeting without listening to a word. I thought you were a right royal prat.'_

_'Huh. And now?'_

_'I don't think that.'_

_'No?'_

_'No. I don't think you're a prat, Arthur Pendragon, I know it.'_

 

            Arthur smiled fondly at the memory, although he did realise that was an odd reaction to being called a prat. The thing was, Arthur could remember the smile on Merlin's face as he had outright insulted Arthur so clearly, that the blonde could have nothing other than a fond recollection of the conversation; it had been the one that had cemented the friendship between the two men.

            There was a knock on his car window that brought Arthur out of his Merlin-induced stupor, until he looked to see who it was that is. There, staring through the glass at him, was Merlin Emrys, grinning like a madman. A weight that Arthur hadn't noticed before lifted from his shoulders at the sight of his friend. Merlin had gone to visit his mother in Belfast over the Summer holidays, meaning they hadn't seen each other in six weeks. Within an instant, Arthur's grin matched Merlin's, the latter of whom stepped away from the door so that Arthur could push it open and step out into the car park before pulling Merlin into an easy bro-hug. 

            'It's good to see you Pendragon; by God Belfast's a depressing city, so it is.'

            Arthur felt his heart swell at the Belfast accent lingering in Merlin's speech.  

'You love Belfast, Emrys, but yeah, good to see you too.'

            'Aye, sure I do, but I've missed this place.' 

            Arthur figured out the coded message; he'd learned to speak Merlin a long time ago:  _aye, sure I do, but I've missed you_. He played along, nonetheless.

            'This place? You've missed this place? Are you sure we're thinking about the same Camelot High?'

            'First of all, you're the one who spent seven years of hell here and then still came back to teach. Second of all, you forget that the art department is its own little sanctuary, immune from all the atrocities of the more academic subjects.'

            'Hmm, it also appears to be immune to receiving any new funding or equipment or approval from the head.'

            Merlin narrowed his eyes. 'Touché. Anyway, first day of term, excited?' 

            'Like hell I am. This is the worst day of the year, Merlin, and you know it.'

            'Oh, I don't know. It has its charms. Besides, at least Mrs Foster retired last year, I'm not sure I could endure another one of her assemblies,' countered Merlin, a vague expression of terror settling over his face. 

            'Count yourself lucky that you only dealt with that for two years. I've been hearing the same assemblies for over a decade.'

            Merlin didn't reply; he shook his head in amusement and reached behind Arthur to push his car door closed. 'Once more unto the breach, my dear friend.'

            'Mm, we who are about to die salute you,' replied Arthur, performing a mock salute which Merlin returned with all the seriousness of a soldier about to climb out of a trench and walk into no-man's land. Picking up his briefcase, the blond led the charge to reception.

 

            'Merlin! Arthur!' a cheerful voice - a far too cheerful for 7:30am on the first day of term voice - sounded across the entrance hall of reception, heralding the arrival of the two men. 'Come on, there's cake in the staff room and basically no one is here yet!' Guinevere Thomas turned on her heels towards the staff room without waiting for a response from her colleagues. 

            The colleagues in question looked at each other for a few seconds before simultaneously diving for the pen and sign-in book waiting on the reception desk. Merlin won out and headed after Gwen - and cake - in victory. Arthur grumbled something unintelligible to himself, avoiding the gaze of Alice, the receptionist, and stalked after his friends. 

 

            He caught up with Merlin and Gwen just outside the staff room, where they were in discussion with someone Arthur didn't recognise. He sighed inwardly, not wanting to deal with newbies already - he had been hoping to hold off on awkward introductions until at least break time - but noting with some hope that at least the bloke looked to be about their age. As he got closer, Gwen turned to see him approaching and grinned. 

            'Arthur! This is Gwaine Greene, the new English teacher,' she declared, 'Gwaine, this is Arthur, history teacher and head of humanities.' 

            'Ah, Mrs Fosters' replacement?' asked Arthur, taking the hand Gwaine had outstretched to him, 'it's good to meet you.' 

            'Yeah, you too,' he replied, dropping Arthur's hand and smiling kindly. 

            'Come on, I hear there's cake in here and as nice as it is to meet you, Gwaine, you're not gonna distract me from my cake.' 

            Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin but followed quickly after him. 

 

            Inside the staff room there was an array of cakes and biscuits, as well as only a few other members of staff: Elena Godwyn, Sophia Tir and Mithian Rodor, teachers of Spanish, German and French, respectively. Arthur's focus shifted back to Gwaine who had followed in after Gwen and was in conversation with Merlin over by the chocolate cake. More specifically, his focus shifted to the way that Gwaine was leaning right in to talk to Merlin, practically whispering in his ear, and angling his whole body toward the art teacher. 

            'You know you look constipated?' 

            Arthur whirled round to see Morgana le Fay, biology teacher and his half-sister, smirking. 

            'Excuse me?'

            'With your jaw all clenched and brow furrowed. Jealousy is not a good look on you, brother dearest.' 

            'Morgana.'

            'Arthur.'

            'I am not-'

            'Yes you are.'

            'Where did you come from anyway?' 

            'Nice, changing the subject. I was in Uther's office. Aren't you going to introduce me to the newest member of our staff?'

            Arthur's jaw clenched again but he schooled his face into a smile and walked towards Gwaine and Merlin. 'Gwaine?'

            The man looked up, eyes brightening as Arthur approached. 

            'I would like to introduce you to Morgana le Fay, my half-sister. She teaches biology.'

            'Nice to meet you, Gwaine. I asked Arthur to introduce us as I was just talking with our father and he says that you will be the associate tutor for my form this year.' 

            'Your father?' Gwaine asked, confusion replacing the smile that had hardly left his face since Arthur had met him.

            'Arthur's a Pendragon - he and Morgana are Uther's children,' explained Merlin. 'But that's gonna be fun, you've got year 7s, right?'

            'That's right. I'm not going to lie, I feel so powerful because the little darlings are always terrified of me.'  

            'Morgana, I'm terrified of you,' said Merlin.

            Arthur snorted at that, and so did Gwen. Morgana smirked and shoved Merlin lightly who couldn't hold a laugh in any longer. Soon Gwen was giggling too and Gwaine just looked round at the lot of them like they were completely insane. It took nearly a minute for Merlin to compose himself and when he finally did, the look on Gwaine's face set him off all over again. 

            'I look forward to working with you, Gwaine,' said Morgana with a wink before walking over to the three language teachers on the other side of the room. 

            'She seems... nice?'

            'Oh ignore these two, Gwaine,' scoffed Gwen, 'Morgana's a sweetheart really, just don't get on the wrong side of her. She tends to take most of her frustrations out on Arthur anyway.' 

            The attention turned away from Morgana when the door to the staff room opened again and more staff members walked in. Arthur smiled as his best friend from school - and last person he would have expected to come back to teach there - Lance Du Lac walked in, accompanied by Percy the PE teacher and Elyan the technology teacher. Lance taught geography, meaning Arthur was his boss, something that the blond found hilarious. The three men looked over to the gaggle of their friends, still gathered around the cake, and started towards them. 

            'Merlin, Percy's on his way over, grab cake now if you want to eat it before we get dragged away and force-fed a kale smoothie or some shit,' whispered Arthur urgently. 

            'Shit!' gasped Merlin. 

            Arthur and Merlin both turned to the cake and grabbed the largest slice they could find. 

            'Hi guys. Gwen, fancy doing the introductions? Arthur and I have some important stuff to do.... over there, yeah, so uh, bye!' The two men scurried away to a sofa across the room with their cakes. 

 

            Arthur was annoyed by the relief he felt to be with Merlin and away from Gwaine. The bloke seemed nice, but he was undeniably gorgeous: he was muscled, had excellent face structure, perfect teeth, and quite honestly the best hair Arthur had ever seen on a guy, and that included Lance. He was also quite obviously attracted to Merlin, and while Arthur couldn't blame him, that didn't mean he wanted to accept it. 

            'So,' started Merlin - he paused to lick some chocolate frosting from his pinky finger, which was a sight that made Arthur's face flush - before continuing, 'Gwaine seems nice.'

            'I guess.'

            'What? Did I miss something?' 

            'No, he's lovely.' 

            'Oh, I see. You're jealous.'

            Arthur nearly choked on his cake and looked up at Merlin with a mortified expression, which he then tried to cover up. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.' He was freaking out internally. Did Merlin know how he felt about him? Was he that obvious? Why the hell hadn't he said anything? 

            'Don't worry, Arthur, I'm sure you'll still be the most pined-after member of staff among the students.'

            Arthur's heart rate slowly returned to a reasonable rate. 'Well, obviously, Merlin, as if I'd be worried about that. I've been a heartthrob at this school since I started here in year 7. No, it's nothing, I'm sure he'll be a great addition to the team. I just feel sorry for him, having to work so closely with my harpy of a sister.'

            'I'll have you know, Arthur Pendragon, your sister is my favourite of Uther Pendragon's children. I'm only friends with you so I can be friends with her. Morgana is my endgame.' 

            ‘Yeah, well, maybe I’m only friends with you because I want to be friends with Will. How would you feel about that, huh?!’

            Will was Merlin’s childhood best friend and Arthur hated him. The feeling was mutual.

            ‘Arthur, you hate Will. And he hates you.’ 

            ‘Whatever. I’d better go see my father before the bell goes, why don’t you spend some time with your best friend Morgana?’

            Merlin chuckled at Arthur and his ridiculous flair for the dramatic but walked over to where Morgana was sitting nonetheless. 

     

            Uther Pendragon's office was the largest room in the school, save for the canteen, gym, hall and sports hall. Arthur had thought it ridiculous when he was a student, and even more ridiculous now; the school was barely able to remain financially viable - it was a grammar school in a country that couldn't afford grammar schools - and was quickly running out of space to deal with the increase in students it had undertaken in an attempt to secure more funding, yet the headmaster had an office larger than Arthur's university dorm. 

            Arthur knocked on the door with an unfounded sense of trepidation - it was his father's office, it shouldn't scare him. But it did, and as Arthur thought back to the many times he had gone into his father's office at home as a child, he decided it wasn't entirely unfounded.

            'Yes? Oh, Arthur, come on in boy - take a seat.' 

            Sometimes Arthur believed that his father had forgotten he was now a teacher rather than a student. 

            'Morning, sir. It's good to see you. You look well.' 

            'Yes, thank you. I took some time to rest over this Summer.'

            'I'm glad.'

            'Right, well, first day of the new year Arthur, let's make it a good one. You're on track for a promotion this year.'

            'Sir, I was only made head of faculty last year, I hardly think-' 

            'Good teachers are hard to come by these days, Arthur, you are a good teacher.'

            'Thank you, sir.'

            'Off you go, Arthur, battle stations.' 

 

            Whilst Arthur was facing Uther Pendragon, Merlin was attempting to deal with the force of nature that was Morgana Le Fay. The woman was every part Uther's child that Arthur was, just in a very different way. Whilst Arthur had adopted his father's stone-cold ambition and determination, Morgana had taken tenacity, a fiery heart, and a storm brewing behind her eyes. Merlin loved Morgana, but he was damn scared of her; while he wouldn't hesitate to call her half-brother a clotpole, or a prat, he wouldn't dare insult Morgana. 

            'Merlin, darling, when are you going to tell my dear little brother how you feel about him?' 

            Morgana also shared Uther's pragmatism. 

            Merlin spluttered, desperately searching for something sarcastic or witty to say, an endeavour in which - 'I have no - I don't - Morgana I-' - he failed. 'I don't know what you mean,' he finished, finally. 

            'Now, dearest Merlin, you're not seriously trying your hand at lying to poor old me, are you? Because if you are, I might accidentally let something slip to one of my students, and you know you'd rather deal with my questions than theirs.' 

            'You wouldn't dare.'

            'You think so? Well if you're willing to take that risk... although I must remind you that Billy Neville is in one of my classes. I believe his sister Charlotte is in your form.'

            Merlin gaped at Morgana. Charlotte Neville was the biggest gossip Merlin knew, including Elena. He sighed. 'I may or may not have the tiniest crush on Arthur.'

            'There, now that wasn't so hard was it?' 

            'It was really rather painful, actually. It's always a pleasure talking with you, Morgana, I always manage to leave the conversation with my head held high,' returned Merlin, sardonically. 

            'Oh hush your whining, I'm not going to tell him. I'm just going to tease you mercilessly when he's out of earshot.' She winked, stood up, and glided out of the room.

            Merlin sighed again. Lord how he detested the first day back.


	2. Chapter 2

For his first couple of years as a teacher, Arthur hadn't been assigned as a form tutor, something for which he was eternally grateful. Having a form meant not having an extra half hour in the morning to do whatever it was he had avoided doing the night before. However, the year that Merlin joined the staff, both he and Arthur had received their first forms. Each man became form tutor to year 8 forms, forms which were now in year 10. That meant that now Arthur had to deal with the hell of around 30 students starting the first year of their GCSE courses.

            The bell was due to go in three minutes, and then the onslaught would begin. Arthur's room in the history department benefited from the fact that the students weren't allowed down that corridor until 8:30, providing Arthur with peace for as long as possible. Merlin, on the other hand, was stationed in one of the art rooms. His form tended to start appearing from 8:15 onwards, the poor bugger. 

            There was nothing more Arthur could do to prepare when the bell rang. His computer was logged in to his staff account and the registration app was loaded on the screen. He had a full mug of steaming coffee and a draw newly-stocked with whiteboard markers, pens, pencils, staples etc. which would all no-doubt be gone by the end of the week - it happened to teachers too. 

            The door opened. 

            'Good morning, Mr P!' 

            'Good Summer, Sir?' 

            Arthur smiled at his students in greeting as they filtered into the room. The usual racket of a group of teenagers being reunited after six weeks apart ensued, and Arthur took a long sip of his coffee. At 8:33 when it appeared that everyone had arrived, Arthur glanced around the room, taking the register silently, and then called for attention. 

            'Good morning, everyone, I trust you have all had a good Summer and are well-rested for the year ahead.' 

            There was a resounding groan. 

            'Okay fine, for the term ahead? Oh come on guys, I trust you are well-rested for the week ahead? Goodness this does not bode well for this year. I guess I'll leave the rest of the boring speech-making to the head. We have an assembly in ten minutes, then we'll be back here for first and second so you can leave your stuff. Until then, please can we keep to noise level reasonably low, I don't particularly want to sit through Monday morning assembly with an egregious headache.' 

            It was no secret to Arthur's students that he was not overly fond of the school's senior leadership; they accepted that they would generally do what he says because he ignored most of the bullshit rules they were supposed to adhere to. 

Arthur turned back to his computer and opened his email. There were already too many messages clogging up his inbox but he ignored the vast majority of them in favour of opening the one Merlin had sent a few minutes earlier. 

 

_Dearest Dollophead,_

_Do you have a whiteboard marker I can steal? I’m slightly less organised than I’d like to be._

_Kind regards,_

_Your fave_

 

Arthur sighed. This is why he always ends up losing all of his stuff; he lets Merlin have whatever he wants. 

 

_Merlin,_

_Your mother would be so disappointed. I’ll bring one down to assembly._

_Arthur._

 

Merlin's reply came through almost instantly. 

 

_Your Majesty,_

_Have I ever told you that you are the light of my life?_

_Hugs and kisses,_  
_Your faithful manservent <3 _

 

Arthur rolled his eyes at the childish reverence but smiled despite himself. He had long ago given up on telling Merlin to be nothing but professional over email as the IT Department had access to them all. There were a lot of things he'd given up on telling Merlin over the years.  


 

Assembly was the same boring, ridiculous affair as usual. Uther had once again congratulated the students on not maiming themselves over the Summer, given the year 11s the same 'this is your time, don't waste this opportunity, you are capable of the very best results' speech, introduced the new teachers and told some wildly hyperbolic story about the importance of sleep. Arthur had spent the whole time trying hard not to roll his eyes, choke at some of Merlin's running commentary, or glare at Gwaine who kept sending glances Merlin's way. He knew he was being ridiculous; he had no claim to Merlin, but Gwaine's eyes were damn right predatory - it simply wasn't appropriate. Arthur could have laughed at his own hypocrisy if only he weren't so bitter about the whole situation.

     

            5 minutes into the first hour, Arthur thought he could honestly die of boredom. He'd handed out the form's new planners for the year, told them which bits to fill out, and left them to it. This, and lingering bitterness towards a certain newbie meant he was feeling practically murderous. Thankfully, having had him as a form tutor for a couple years, his students easily recognised his 'don't bother me unless you're about to die or you want detention' face. 

            It took about 15 minutes for murmured conversations to break out, indicating that the planners were now filled out. 

            'Okay, I take it that the chatter means we're ready to move on. Cassie is going to hand around these sheets to you.' He handed the sheets to the girl who dutifully stood up and began distributing them. 'You need to fill out both sides. It's mostly about targets for this year, starting your GCSE courses et cetera, et cetera. You have the rest of this hour to do it, keep the noise to a minimum, please.' Arthur couldn't help but feel bad; he knew full well that the head of year - Agravaine DuBois - would collect these sheets in from the year 10 form tutors and promptly recycle them. 

            'Sir?'

            Arthur was broken from his thoughts and looked up to see Eoin pointing at the door. Gwaine was there, awkwardly trying to open it whilst holding two steaming mugs. Arthur fought hard not to roll his eyes and went over to let the man in.

            'Gwaine, what can I do for you?' he asked, keeping his voice low.

            'Well, associate form tutors aren't really needed at the moment, so I was going to get a coffee and I asked Morgana if she wanted anything and she said she didn't but was sure you'd appreciate a coffee, black, right?' Gwaine rambled his way through the explanation and held out one of the mugs. 

            'Oh, well, thank you.'

            'No problem, really. Just trying to make a good impression, you know?' He winked and Arthur scoffed.

            'You're certainly making an impression,' Arthur said, smiling despite himself. 

            'Better than nothing, princess, better than nothing.'

            'Princess?!' choked Arthur, eyebrows raised to his hairline. 

            Gwaine said nothing but nodded towards Arthur's mug before turning around and walking away. Arthur looked down and scowled when he read what was written on it:  _I'm 99.9% sure I'm a Disney Princess._  He was right. Gwaine was pure evil wrapped up in a pretty package. 

            Arthur walked back to his desk and placed the coffee down. 

            'Was that the new English teacher, sir?' asked Eoin, pushing his worksheet away and resting his chin on his hands; trust Gwaine to completely destroy Arthur's students' concentration.

            'Yes, that's Mr Greene. I'm sure some of you will have the pleasure of being in his class this year-'

            'God I hope so.' Eoin smacked his hand over his mouth as he realised he had spoken so loudly. 'I actually hate myself, oh my God,' he said, chuckling slightly. 

            Arthur let out a bellowing laugh, shocking some members of the form, and, in fact, himself. Despite all attempts to refrain from having favourites, Eoin's strong Belfast accent reminded him of Merlin's softer lilt and he was a bold personality, meaning Arthur found it hard not to have a soft spot for him. 

            'Don't let his silky hair and charming smile fool you, Eoin. The man's a scoundrel.' 

            'You're just saying that because he called you Princess,' chided Hilary, Eoin's best friend. 

            'No, he's just saying that because Mr Greene was flirting with Merlin after assembly,' said Eoin, grinning wildly. 

            'Oh my God, not this again! What is the obsession with myself and Mr Emrys in this form?!' Arthur had had this same argument with his form many times the previous year, pretending as best as he could to seem nonchalant. 

            'If it makes you feel any better, it's not just our form! Merlin's form is just the same.' 

            Allowing his students to eschew his proper title was just one of Merlin's tiny acts of rebellion against the school.

            'Oh yes, that makes me feel so much better, thank you Hilary,' Arthur replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, making the whole class laugh. 'Aren't you lot supposed to be doing those sheets I gave you?' He took another sip of his coffee, inwardly cursing the fact that it tasted amazing and therefore Gwaine wasn't utterly incompetent. 

            'Technically, yes. But, like, we all know that no one is ever gonna read this drivel.' There was a chorus of agreement following Cassie's words and Arthur sighed. 

            'Well I know that, but you're not supposed to. When did you all become so cynical? Ugh, fine lets discuss GCSEs. Hands up, who took history?' Arthur smiled when the vast majority of the form put their hands up. He had attempted to nurture an active interest in history in his form since they had been in year 8 and was glad to see it had paid off. 'Excellent. Let's see whose obsession with my personal life is concerning. Who is taking art as well as history?' 

            Around half of those who were taking history put their hands back up. 

            'Okay, that's definitely a higher proportion than usual, no doubt owing to the unhealthy rhetoric we have going on in this form regarding the entirely professional relationship between myself and Mr Emrys.' 

            'Sir, you forget that we have had art with Merlin as a form for two years. He had told us many stories about you and we know you're best friends.' 

            Arthur glared at Eoin, who simply grinned in return.

            'That is all fake news. Mr Emrys is like the Fox News of reputable sources.' 

            'How very dare you!' 

            The whole form turned to the door, where Merlin was standing. 

            'Merlin, are you and sir best friends?' asked Hilary. 

            'Of course we are! Has he been bitching about me behind my back?' Merlin gasped. 

            'Oh my God Merlin, we're teachers, we don't  _bitch_  about each other.' 

            'He was though.' 

            'I can't believe you would betray me like this Eoin,' said Arthur, finally accepting there was not getting back to what they were supposed to be doing. 

            'Eoin is my brethren Arthur, us Belfast lads have to stick together.' Another one of Merlin's small rebellions was he refused to refer to any other teacher by their proper title.'

            Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, fighting off a smile. 

            'What are you doing here, Mr Emrys?' 

            'Oh, right, yeah. I was bored.' 

            Arthur felt like the entire form was looking at him with the same judging face with one eyebrow raised and a knowing smirk. 

            'You're not helping my case here. I'll remind you again that you are a teacher, being bored is part of your job description.' 

            'Ugh fine, okay. I'm going. Nice mug by the way!' Merlin waved to the form as he left and Arthur put his head in his hands; how he had survived knowing Merlin for so long without suffering a coronary he had no idea. 

            'I'm just saying, sir,' said Eoin, 'Merlin's form room is on the other side of the school.'

            'Okay fine, we're friends. Are you happy?' 

            'Baby steps, sir,' the boy replied, 'baby steps.'

            Arthur threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. Once again, he knew he was in love with Merlin, but his students weren't supposed to. In truth he knew that the form didn't actually believe there was something going on, but Merlin was out and proud meaning there was bound to be some shipping going on. 

            'Right, it's time to get back to work. We have 15 minutes of this hour left so focus on filling out those sheets now and then we can hand out the timetables and have a chat next lesson.'

            The students got back to work and a notification popped up on Arthur's computer screen. It was an email. 

 

_Dollophead,_

_I can't believe you've been spreading lies about me. My form is appalled that you said we weren't friends and so am I._

_Gwaine just brought me some coffee and I'm now considering naming him my best friend as you so clearly don't want the position._

_You'll be hearing from my lawyers ;)_

_Unkind Regards,_

_Your colleague, Merlin._

 

            Arthur felt his mouth form into a grimace before he'd even had time to decide he was annoyed. 

    

_Merlin,_

_Don't replace me with Gwaine._

_Arthur._

 

Arthur felt his stomach drop as he realised he had sent the message on autopilot without allowing his conscious mind to read it and change it to sound less clingy and pathetic. Now he looked like he couldn't take a bit of harmless banter. 

 

_Arthur,_

_You know I could never._

_Merlin._

 

            Arthur could picture the knitted eyebrows and teeth worrying a bottom lip that would have appeared on Merlin's face as soon as he'd read the message. It was the same look that he always gave Arthur when he said something that expressed the many insecurities he had. 

 

_Merlin and Arthur were sat at the island in Arthur's kitchen, eating breakfast after a spontaneous movie marathon that had led to Arthur insisting that Merlin couldn't walk home at such a late hour so he should just stay on the sofa. Merlin had made breakfast and helped himself to a full plate of bacon and eggs. Arthur watched as the brunet shovelled food into his mouth, not caring one bit for how much he was eating, while he was already calculating how long he'd have to spend at the gym later to make up for the pizza last night and a fried breakfast._

_'Merlin?'_

_'Hm?'_

_'Do you think I'm getting fat?' Arthur cringed as the words left his mouth; he wasn't used to expressing concerns to anyone else, but Merlin had always been unique. He cringed more as Merlin put down his fork, furrowed his brows and bit his lip, eyes darting back and forth across Arthur's face._

_Merlin's face relaxed as he finally settled his eyes on Arthur's own._

_'Of course not, Arthur. There's barely an ounce of fat on you, it's all muscle.' Merlin's expression changed into a cheeky grin. 'Utterly gorgeous, anyone-would-be-lucky-to-sink-their-teeth-into muscle,' he said with a wink._

_Arthur rolled his eyes and threw a tea towel at Merlin, glad the sincerity was over._

 

            Another message arrived in his mailbox. 

_Besides, his coffee isn't nearly as good as yours ;)_

 

            And just like that, Merlin had made everything okay again, like he always did, and Arthur smiled. 

'Messaging your husband, sir?'

            'Eoin, I swear to God!'


	3. Chapter 3

By the end of the day, Arthur was exhausted. It was ridiculous, really, that he could be so drained after one day back following six weeks of rest. To be fair, he'd hardly had a break all day; at break time he was on duty in the canteen and at lunch his father had demanded his and Morgana's presence to discuss the year ahead.

_'Arthur, Morgana, come in, sit down.' Uther stood from his desk as he spoke and moved round it to take a space on one of the deep red sofas around a solid oak coffee table._   
_Everything about the room, Arthur observed - and not for the first time - was excessively opulent, as though Uther fancied himself some sort of King. In some ways, Arthur supposed, he probably did._

_The half-siblings shared a swift look before obeying their orders and joining their father._

_'Now, I spoke with both of you briefly this morning, but I wished to have this lunch hour to properly talk some things over. Morgana, your department received excellent results last year and I expect to see much of the same-'_

_'You mean Gaius' department, Uther, or Mrs Frank's subject. I'm just a teacher.'_

_Arthur pointedly looked at a spot on the wall, hoping the hour wouldn't crumble into a tirade of snippy, passive-aggressive comments from both his sister and father. It was no secret in their family that Morgana had been hurt by the lack of promotion the previous year, considering she had been working at the school for three years longer than Arthur. The whole year, Uther had been hinting at a promotion on the cards, and both of his children had assumed it would go to Morgana, so Arthur's immediate promotion to head of department from subject teacher had been a shock._

_'We all know,' continued Uther, ignoring his daughter, 'that the school needs to keep up its excellent academic record in order to stay afloat. We are rewarded for good results, and the uptake in one of the sciences as an A level option for this year is reflective of the department's sterling performance. With the change into the new GCSEs happening this year, its important there is a smooth transition in the core subjects and I'm sure your department will be able to deliver.'_

_Arthur could practically hear Morgana's eye roll._

_'Arthur, stellar work in the humanities department as well. I see there has been an increase in students carrying history through to GCSE this year, good job boy.'_

_'Thank you, sir.'_

_'Although, I do think you should make some changes this year.'_

_Arthur raised a questioning eyebrow and tilted his head slightly._

_'Not in the department, no, I'm thinking more of your... connections.'_

_Morgana scoffed and crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat, but Arthur hadn't caught on to his father's meaning so quickly. He righted himself and began to play with the signet ring on his left hand._

_'My connections, sir?'_

_'Yes, I think you could afford to make some more... meaningful relationships within the school. Your current ones are not entirely, well, up to par.'_   
_Arthur's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but he was beaten to it._

_'I don't believe this,' Morgana said, with a mirthless chuckle._

_Arthur looked between his father and sister, mouth still open, before settling his gaze settled on Uther._

_'I'm not sure I know to what you are referring, sir.'_

_'Merlin.' Morgana sat forward in her seat, glaring daggers of accusation at Uther. 'He's referring to Merlin, he thinks he's beneath you, thinks you need to start kissing up to the board of governors rather than spending time with our Northern Irish art teacher. Isn't that right, Uther?' She let out another harsh laugh, stood up and swept out of the room, shaking her head as she went._

_'Is she right? Are you really trying to order a cease and desist on my friendship with Merlin Emrys? My God.'_

_'I only want what's best for you, Arthur.'_

_Arthur set his jaw and ran his tongue over his teeth, a sudden bitterness taking hold within his mouth. He slowly shook his head and bit out a 'no' through gritted teeth. He shot a brief, resentful smile at his father, repeated his 'no' and stood up sharply. He brushed his hands over his slacks._

_'No, you don't understand what's best for me father. You never have.' Arthur swept out of the room, much like his sister, and stalked towards the staff room._

_When he arrived, he pushed open the door, intending to vent to Merlin, however he was met with the sight of Merlin and Gwaine huddled round the kettle, Merlin laughing at something Gwaine had said._

_The art teacher looked over to the door after a couple of seconds in time to see Arthur's face set in to a grim nonchalance, and then the man himself turn and leave._

 

Arthur pushed his key into the lock, turned it, and swung his front door open. Closing the door behind him, he cleared the space to the sofa in four strides and practically collapsed onto it, dropping his briefcase rather unceremoniously onto the floor as he did so. As far as first days went, it had been a rough one. Between his father, Gwaine, and Merlin, Arthur had hardly had time to breathe all day. The least stressful part of his day was dealing with a bunch of new year 7s in their first history class that afternoon, which had been far from a calming experience. He had won them over in the end by letting them go 5 minutes before the end of the day. It may have been so that he could get to the history office, grab everything he needed and leave the school before Merlin had finished with his class rather than out of the goodness of his heart, but they didn’t need to know that.

Arthur greatly resented the fact that term had started on a Monday this year, rather than a Friday like the year before, because he couldn’t just drink himself to a point where he was okay with Merlin and Gwaine, where he was okay with the fact that he had to face yet another year head over heels for a man who would never want him back. His head hurt with the thought of it and he pinched the bridge of his nose to try to disperse the pressure that had begun to gather there.

Just as he was beginning to think that maybe one scotch wouldn’t be the end of the world, the buzzer to Arthur’s apartment sounded throughout the place, splitting through the haze that had taken hold of his head. He winced and practically rolled off of the sofa. He slunk over to the intercom and lifted up the handset.

‘Hello?’

‘It’s me, Arthur,’ came Morgana’s voice down the line.

Arthur sighed. The last thing he needed right now was his half-sister coming to try and sort out his life for him. He pressed the button to allow her up, nonetheless, and opened the door. He walked towards the kitchen and filled up the kettle.

‘So, Merlin – the dear – called me in a panic about twenty minutes ago, worried that he’d done something to upset you, and begged me to come here and check on you. You two really are sickening.’

Arthur closed his eyes as the kettle came to a boil. Of course Merlin would be so concerned as to send Morgana. He opened his eyes and poured water into the two mugs he had on the counter and waited for the tea to brew.

‘I’m fine, Morgana. Merlin’s overreacting.’

‘So you didn’t storm out of the staff room after seeing him and Gwaine all cosied up?’

‘He said that?’

‘No, Gwaine said that. Merlin is too oblivious to even consider that his proximity to Gwaine had any correlation to your foul mood.’

Taking a deep breath, Arthur spooned the teabags into the bin and carried the two mugs into the living area, placing them down on the coffee table and taking a seat on the sofa. He watched as Morgana wandered around the living room, as always, judging his decorating.

‘I’m just saying, Arthur, it took Gwaine less than a day to figure you out. Anyone with eyes, apart from Merlin, can see that you look at him like he hung the moon and the stars, just for you. I mean, look.’ She lifted up a photo frame that showed him and Merlin at Halloween the previous year. ‘This apartment is littered with him, but there’s not one photo of any of your family, or even your friends from university.’

‘I get it, Morgana,’ he snapped, harsher than he had intended.

Morgana just turned to him, smirking. She glided to the sofa and took a seat next to him.

‘I don’t need you to tell me how I feel about him, I’ve felt it for years, I know what it is.’ He choked slightly on the last words and Morgana’s expression softened.

She took a sip of her tea before speaking again: ‘You need to tell him how you feel, Arthur.’

‘No.’ Arthur shook his head. ‘Absolutely not, I can’t do that to him.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know Merlin. He’s the best person I know, and if I told him how I felt, the guilt he would feel for not feeling the same could ruin him, could ruin us.’

‘But what if he felt the same?’

‘It’s not happening, Gana, end of conversation.’

Morgana sat back, defeated.

‘So,’ Arthur started, desperate to shift his sister’s attention, ‘how’s Leon?’

Leon had started at Camelot High as a new maths teacher the year before, and Morgana definitely had a soft spot for the redhead. Arthur didn’t know him particularly well, as the maths teachers tended to stay within their department, but he had heard students speaking fondly of him.

‘ _Okay, Mr Young is actually such an icon.’_

_Arthur lifted his head as his A-Level class entered the room._

_‘So yesterday,’ continued Quinn, ‘he arrives to our lesson ten minutes late, as usual, and is about to start when he realises he’s left some worksheets in the maths block, and he goes “does anyone have a coat I can borrow it’s started raining” so Chris hands him this puffer jacket thing and sir just sticks the hood on his head and speeds out the room with the thing billowing behind him like a cape. Like, bear in mind he’s already late, and he just makes this dramatic exit and I swear to God, I heard him whisper zoom under his breath as he went. The man’s brilliant.’_

‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Come off it, Morgana, you two are practically dating. Merlin saw you in the pub after work on Friday and said you looked very cosy. He asked me what I thought he should get you for your birthday.’

‘What did you say?’

‘I said I had no idea. That’s besides the point, Morgana, when are you two going to make it official?’

‘Look, I have no interest in hearing a speech from father about professionalism in the workplace. Lord know he’d only use it as an excuse not to promote me yet again.’

Morgana rolled her eyes for what must have been the hundredth time that day.

‘He wouldn’t have to know.’

‘He’d find out. I’d like to wait a little longer to see how I feel about Leon before I make any definite decisions, is that okay with you, little brother?’

‘So long as you’re happy, Morgana.’

Morgana smiled softly at Arthur, with a look of gratitude and something else that Arthur couldn’t quite decipher in that moment. She broke her gaze after a few moments and kicked her shoes off before pulling her legs underneath herself, settling against the arm of the sofa and taking a long sip of her tea.

‘I suppose that means you’re staying for a while longer then?’

‘Mm.’ She nodded. ‘Someone’s got to assure Merlin that you’re alive, well and eating properly. Speaking of, where are the takeaway menus?’

Her tone of voice told Arthur that she wasn’t enquiring so that she may go and find them, but rather hinting that he should get them himself, so he pushed himself up, setting his mug on the table as he went, and went in search of the menu he had for the nearest Chinese.

‘You know you don’t have to come and mother me just because Merlin’s worried, right?’

‘Merlin knows you better than most people. If he’s worried, then I’m worried. Besides, if I hadn’t mothered you intermittently since we were children, you’d be even more emotionally stunted than you are now from a childhood with Uther as your only guardian.’

_Arthur was 15 when Morgana stormed into his room, fixed him with her hardest glare, and made him swear to never punch anyone again._

_‘But Dad said-’_

_‘I don’t care what Uther said, Arthur, you don’t punch someone because they say something you disagree with! That’s not how the world works. You don’t – what was it he said? defend your honour? – by fighting. You choose to walk away or explain to them why they’re wrong to have said what they said. There is no viable third option. What did this kid say, anyway?’_

_‘He said I was gay.’_

_‘My God! So you punched him?’_

_Arthur cowered under his sister’s scornful gaze._

_‘I can’t believe you, Arthur Pendragon! I had you down as many things but a homophobe wasn’t one of them. Uther’s poisoned your mind with his backwards views. If someone uses gay as an insult, who the hell are you to take it as one?! I don’t-’_

_‘That wasn’t why I did it. Morgana I-God this is so screwed up-I…’_

_Morgana’s expression softened as finally all the pieces clicked into place and suddenly she was looking at her brother in a completely different light._

_‘Arthur, are you gay?’_

_The boy’s sobs were answer enough and Morgana pulled him into a hug, holding him until his tears stopped._

_‘Let it all go, Arthur,’ she whispered into his hair, ‘It’s good to cry.’_

 

_The next time Arthur cried in front of Morgana was a few months later when she dragged him to the local Odeon to see Marley and Me. He had always found himself moved by films more than others, but that was the first time he had allowed himself to cry in front of someone whilst watching one._

_‘Arthur, are you crying?’ Morgana whispered through the darkness._

_‘How are you not crying?’ Arthur sniffed and wiped his eyes, chuckling slightly at himself. ‘This is harrowing stuff, Morgana.’_

_‘Did you really just call an Owen Wilson comedy harrowing?’_

_‘This is anything but comedic. Just because you’ve got a clump of ice for a heart. Honestly Morgana, it’s good to cry.’_

 

_The first time Arthur showed up on Morgana’s doorstep with tears in his eyes, she bundled him inside and held him until he told her what was wrong. He was 17 and had just had his heart broken for the first time. Morgana had moved out the previous year to go to university in London and there wasn’t anyone at home to look after Arthur’s emotional welfare anymore, so she was glad he had found his way to her so he could cry, rather than keeping it bottled up, suffering in silence whilst Uther knew nothing._

_‘You deserve so much better than him, Arthur,’ she whispered, carding her fingers through his hair, ‘you deserve only the best kind of men. Someone who’s kind, and funny, and just a little bit ridiculous. Promise me you won’t settle for any less.’_

_‘I promise.’_

Arthur chuckled and swatted Morgana over the head with the menu. ‘I’m not emotionally stunted.’

‘Thanks to who?’

‘You, my darling sister,’ he replied, sarcastically.

 

Some time later, once both siblings had stuffed themselves with Chinese food, Morgana left. She had swept from the apartment with a kiss pressed to Arthur’s cheek and an upbeat ‘cheerio’, leaving Arthur to prepare for the next day, and – he supposed – the year ahead.


	4. Chapter 4

Gwaine’s was the last first face he wanted to see the next morning, but it seemed that Arthur was having a spot of trouble in getting things that he wanted. He had been hoping to complete his journey to the history department, including a stop in the staff room to make some coffee, with little-to-no human contact, something that should have been easy considering how early he was and the proximity of the department to the staff room, but the brown-eyed scoundrel was there, chipper as Arthur was glum.

‘Morning, Princess,’ Gwaine said with a wink, ‘coffee?’ He nodded to where the kettle was just coming to the boil.

A small, bitter part of Arthur wanted to say no, but a larger, more tired part of him that remembered the coffee Gwaine had made for him the day before drowned that part out and his nodded, murmuring a thank you as he did.

‘So Merlin tells me you used to go to school here, is that right?’

Once again, Gwaine’s words had Arthur split into two parts, the first of which bristled at the mention of Merlin, or more specifically any conversation between Merlin and Gwaine, and the second was vaguely triumphant that Merlin had spoken about him to Gwaine.

‘Yeah, years 7-13, Lord knows why I came back to teach.’

‘Well.’ Gwaine handed Arthur his coffee and nodded over Arthur’s shoulder towards the door, his face settling into a smirk. ‘I can certainly think of a few reasons.’

Arthur turned in confusion, and felt an involuntary scowl settle across his features when he saw that Gwaine had meant Merlin, his Merlin an unwarranted thought said. He turned back to Gwaine, mumbled an ‘excuse me’, and hurried out of the room, barely managing to nod to Merlin in acknowledgement on his way out. 

 

Back in his classroom, Arthur managed to calm down reasonably quickly. Really, he knew that he had no claim to Merlin, he had no right to be angry that someone was taking an interest in the man, especially as he couldn’t blame Gwaine for being attracted to Merlin. Sighing in disappointment at himself, Arthur turned to his computer to send an email to Merlin when thundering footsteps coming up the stairs made him turn to the door.

‘Alright, Arthur, I’ve had enough,’ said Merlin emphatically as he appeared in the doorway, ‘That is the second time in 24 hours that you have stormed out of that staffroom away from me with no explanation and I’m not having it! I had to go to Morgana to make sure you were okay for goodness sake! Morgana! Have I done something to offend you, sire, or are you just being a clotpole like usual?’ Merlin was quite red in the face by the time he finished his rant.

‘You haven’t done anything,’ Arthur said, guilt taking a vice-like grip on his heart.

‘Right, so…?’

‘So… I’m just being a clotpole like usual.’

‘Good!’ Merlin beamed and Arthur couldn’t believe it was that simple. ‘I’m glad we got that sorted. Now, I forgot to have a look at your teaching timetable yesterday, need to know when I can come and brighten up your day!’

‘Basically never, my timetable is bloody packed this year. Uther must want me to become some sort of recluse.’ Arthur’s jovial tone slipped as he remembered his conversation with his father the day before. That’s probably exactly why he was stuck with 2 year 7 classes, one year 8 class, one year 9 class, a GCSE class in both years 10 and 11 and one of the year 12 A-Level classes. The more time he spends teaching, the less time he can send with Merlin. 

Arthur didn’t realise he had zoned out until Merlin clicked in his face.

‘You alright there, mate?’ asked the brunet, ‘You can’t have a breakdown over the workload yet, you’ve got to at least wait until the first termly assessment. I’ve got 8 classes this year. I have no idea how they’ve timetabled it, but George has only got 5 and let me tell you I am bitter about it.’ He unpinned Arthur’s table from the board next to his computer and studied it thoroughly. ‘This sucks, we only have like 4 hours free together over the fortnight!’

I bet Uther tried for 0, Arthur thought, bitterly. 

‘There’s no way that you’re going to survive the year with that many classes and this little Merlin time.’ 

Arthur chuckled in spite of the hatred for his father that was cementing itself even further in his heart. Call him codependent, but he really did rely on Merlin to keep him sane sometimes. They wouldn’t even have most lunchtimes together; clubs and open houses for both of their subjects would be starting up soon and they would pretty quickly find themselves reduced to a quick ‘hello’ in the corridor and he couldn’t deal with that and what if Merlin had loads of free time to spend with Gwaine and he just forgot about Arthur altogether and then they wouldn’t even have their four hours together and he’d be forced to watch Merlin fall in love with Gwaine from afar and of course he’d support him because he loves him so much but god it would hurt him so much and-

‘ARTHUR!’ 

Arthur snapped out of it and looked up with wide eyes to see Merlin leaning in front of him, and then he felt the other man’s calloused hands either side of his face. 

‘God, Arthur, are you okay? You blanked out for a moment there. Are you ill?’ he held the back of his hand against Arthur’s forehead for a few seconds, his other hand remaining on Arthur’s cheek. ‘You’re a bit warm.’ 

Arthur shook his head, pushing Merlin back. 

‘I’m fine. I didn’t get much sleep last night and it’s probably just taking its toll; I actually had a solid sleeping schedule over the Summer and now it’s getting screwed up.’ 

Merlin studied his face for a moment before finally standing up straight, breaking the tension that had built up between them. 

‘I’m sure I’ll be right as rain come breaktime,’ Arthur assured, smiling, ‘I have a whole hour second period to top up on caffeine. The next time you see me, I’ll be a new man.’ 

‘Shame,’ muttered Merlin, a sly smile working its way across its features, ‘I rather liked Arthur. Oh well, I suppose some change wouldn’t hurt.’

‘Stop being a little shit, you little shit.’ 

‘Wow, you really have a way with words there, sir. You sure you teach an essay subject?’ 

Arthur stubbornly ignored the way his stomach flipped at Merlin’s use of the word ‘sir’ and instead chose to to focus his attention on throwing a whiteboard rubber at him. 

Merlin tried and failed to dodge the attack, ending up getting his squarely in the face when Arthur was pretty sure he would have missed had Merlin stayed still. He picked up the rubber and threw it back at Arthur - missing, obviously - and sped out of the room to avoid all out rubber-war calling a ‘see you at break’ over his shoulder as he went. 

Arthur smiled softly to himself, feeling infinitely lighter than he had done a mere five minutes earlier. He lifted his timetable of the desk and pinned it back on the board, considering the worrying impact Merlin had on his mood as he did so. 

 

Come break time, Merlin was gasping for a cup of coffee. He dismissed his year 9 class with a wave and paced out of the door towards the staff room. 

Arthur was already there when he arrived, the lucky bastard having a classroom just above said staff room, rather than in a separate block on the other side of the school. Merlin would be resentful, if it weren’t for the fact that the moment he stepped into the room, Arthur caught his eye and held up a cup of coffee for him, meaning Merlin didn’t have to fight his way to the kettle through all of the other staff members who shared in his misfortune of not having Arthur’s room. 

‘You are a Prince among men, Arthur Pendragon - no, scratch that, you are a King among men, you gorgeous man you,’ he said, taking the mug from the blond’s hand. 

‘I feel as though I should be offended that I don’t get this much praise just for my mere existence, but I’ll take it anyway.’ 

‘You wouldn’t be able to walk through doorways with your head the size it would be if I was this kind to you so often. You’d have to stay in bed all day and you’d miss out on seeing me, so really it’s in your best interest, really.’

‘You, on the other hand, are in total control of your utterly modest ego, Merlin?’ Arthur asked, a smirk on his face. 

‘I keep my ego in check, thank you very much. It could be so much larger.’ 

‘Damn right it could!’ 

Merlin was startled by Gwaine’s voice behind him. The newcomer indicated for Merlin to budge up and flopped himself down practically on his lap. Gwaine threw and arm around merlin’s shoulder and Merlin tried not to notice the way that Arthur’s smile faltered and then, when it found its place again, didn’t meet his eyes. 

‘Merlin should be practically insufferably arrogant, being so scandalously attractive as he is,’ Gwaine continued. 

Merlin felt his face heat up and he elbowed Gwaine in the side, willing the man to shut up. Gwaine did not get the blatant hint. 

‘I mean, come on, those legs.’ Gwaine let out a low, appreciative whistle. ‘And, the eyes and the cheekbones, it’s really not fair. Don’t you agree, Arthur?’ 

Arthur,who had been pointedly looking down into the dark depths of his coffee for the last minute or so, looked up at Gwaine, conflict evident in his features, though Merlin could not identify the cause. 

‘Merlin? Gorgeous?’ 

Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur. ‘Are you sure we’re talking about the same person here, Gwaine? Merlin is one of the ugliest people I know.’ 

‘Have you seen yourself in the mirror, baby brother?’ 

Merlin smiled at Morgana as she came over from her pigeonhole to join the conversation. 

‘Yes, I’m rather exquisite.’ 

The laugh Morgana gave to Arthur’s reply was dry and Merlin sat back to enjoy the interaction between the half-siblings. 

‘An exquisite pain in my arse, perhaps. Regardless, you have no business calling Merlin ugly. He’s stunning and I know you agree.’ 

Arthur spluttered wordlessly at his sister for a few moments before giving up on speech and settling a steely glare on her instead. Merlin, of course, knew that Morgana’s words were false but he decided to play along nonetheless. 

‘Oh Arthur, I’m flattered,’ he gushed. 

Arthur turned the glare on Merlin. 

‘I hate you all.’ 

 

Gwaine felt a self-satisfied smirk fight its way onto his face as Arthur stood up to get more coffee. It was so painfully obvious that the blond man had a crush on Merlin, and Gwaine couldn’t help but have a little fun with him. Merlin was highly attractive, and if Gwaine hadn’t seen from the instant he met the man how enamoured he was with the blond as well, he might have seriously considered making a move, but as it stood he was happy to flirt harmlessly with Merlin and watch Arthur squirm. Besides, the school was not short of dashingly handsome staff. There was Leon, but he and Morgana were clearly on the brink of… something. Then there was Lance, and wouldn’t that be fun to torment Arthur by going after his other best friend, not to mention that Lance was probably, conventionally, the most attractive man on the staff. However, Gwen was clearly sweet on the man, and who was Gwaine to deny someone as sickeningly adorable as Gwen someone as terribly wholesome as Lance? Thankfully, after Gwaine had realised Merlin was Strictly Off Limits, the only man who had truly caught his eye was Percy. 

The day before, when Merlin and Arthur had run off together to eat cake and make heart eyes at each other, Gwaine had turned to see what - or rather, who - had scared them away and the sight of the human beefcake in front of him practically winded him. 

When he had finally gotten his mind out of the gutter and managed to speak coherently to the PE teacher, it turned out the man was actually incredibly witty and interesting to talk to, and very soon Merlin and his cheekbones were completely out of his mind. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to keep laying it on thick with Merlin though, especially after talking to Morgana and having her confirm that, yes, Arthur had a thing for Merlin, and yes, it was pathetic, and yes, she totally supported Gwaine in his endeavour to annoy Arthur into just asking the guy out. Needless to say that Gwaine was incredibly glad that he had chosen Camelot to be his first teaching job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this there will be no updates until 28/8/18 - I'm going away, sorry! x


	5. Chapter 5

By the end of the first week, Arthur was going stir crazy. Between year 7s speaking too much and year 12s not speaking at all, plus too little Merlin and far too much Gwaine, he already hated _everything_.

‘You’re being overly dramatic, Arthur,’ scolded Morgana as he told her of his woes.

‘I am being reasonably dramatic, thank you very much,’ Arthur scoffed in reply,

‘Father is practically trying to kill me with this timetable, and he’s obviously hired Gwaine to finish the job for him.’

‘We’re all being stretched thin this year, Arthur - the whole education system is. And Gwaine is a perfectly nice guy, maybe if you just asked Merlin out-’

‘Shh!’ Arthur glanced round them to see if anyone had heard and then glared daggers at Morgana.

‘Oh for pete’s sake, it’s the middle of a lesson and we’re in the staff quiet room, there’s no one about.'

‘Doesn’t mean you need to start yelling about it for anyone to hear, you harpy!’

‘Arthur, either grow a pair and ask him out or get over it. I’m not going to keep dealing with you when you’re like this.’ With that, Morgana stood up, turned on her heel and slid out of the room.

Arthur scowled at the space that had previously been occupied by his sister and inwardly cursed her existence. The most annoying thing about her was that she was right - not that he’d ever admit that out loud to anyone. He knew he was being a right arse, but he couldn’t help it. Merlin was the one who usually kept Arthur’s dickish tendencies under check and he’d barely seen the man. Morgana had given him two options: ask Merlin out or get over him. Arthur figured that if he wasn’t seeing Merlin as much as usual, he should be able to get over him - at least enough to stop snapping at anyone who gave him the time of day.

 

‘He’s insufferable, Gwen. More so than usual.’ After leaving Arthur, Morgana had taken a trip across the school to visit Gwen in food tech. ‘I’m so angry with Uther for doing this to him. I just hope it makes him finally buck up the courage to ask Merlin out - even if it’s just because he’ll have the added motivation of annoying his father.’

‘Merlin’s just the same,’ said Gwen, pushing another fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie towards Morgana,

‘At least you don’t have to deal with Arthur being in the same department as you. I’ve got Merlin’s angst constantly, not to mention the fact that my actual brother’s room is across the hall.’

Elyan was the school’s technology teacher, and seemingly took his sister mentioning him as his cue to enter.

‘Talk of the Devil.’

‘Why were you two witches talking about me?’

‘We were actually talking about Merlin. You just happened to come up,’ explained Morgana, taking a third biscuit. Elyan sat down and took one himself, shoving it into his mouth before Gwen could take it back.

‘You’re a pig,’ said Gwen.

‘Ah yes, Merlin. He’s a right misery-guts this year. I miss his cheery greetings in the morning,’ Elyan complained between bites of cookie.

‘You know it’s bad when even the guys pick up on it.’

‘What’s up with him?’

Morgana shook her head subtly at Gwen whilst Elyan was focused on his cookie.

‘Oh, uh, he’s just tired I think - Uther’s done some creative timetabling this year and Merlin certainly got the short stick of the art teachers.’

‘Ah that sucks. I’m sure he’ll be fine after a couple of weeks though - must be quite a shock to the system after spending the Summer at home in the Emerald Isle. I’ll speak to him after this lesson, ask if he’s coming to the pub later. You two still are, right?’

When Arthur joined the teaching staff he began a tradition of an open staff invite to the pub down the road after school every Friday. There were some people who made it nearly every week - Arthur, Lance, Elyan, Elena, Sophia, Leon and Percy - whilst others only made sporadic appearances, and some never went at all. Merlin, Gwen and Morgana fit somewhere in the middle. They went a fair amount but at completely irregular intervals. They probably averaged once every three visits, but sometimes this would mean going every week for two months, and then not showing up for weeks at a time. Morgana and Gwen had never missed the first Friday of the year though.

‘Of course we’ll be there,’ answered Morgana, ‘Try and make him come with, will you? I’ve barely seen him since Monday and I worry.’

‘Of course. Right!’ Elyan slapped his hands down on his thighs and stood up. ‘I’ll leave you two to get back to whatever it was you were doing… brewing potions, eating children et cetera.’ Grabbing a cookie, he ran out of the room, laughing as a whiteboard rubber connected with the back of his head.

‘You know, this used to be a full plate of cookies.’

‘Oh don’t even pretend to be annoyed Gwen. We all know that you would probably wither and die if you didn’t have the opportunity to feed us all 24/7. Just to make you happy, I’m going to go ahead and take one more.’

 

Arthur arrived to the pub a little later than everyone else that afternoon; Uther had requested his presence for a meeting to discuss… well honestly Arthur wasn’t entirely sure what they had discussed. He was still angry with his father for what he had said - or rather implied, as of course the man couldn’t just come out and say what he meant - about Merlin. So, he had just sat and nodded along to what had been said, occasionally muttering in response and praying the whole time that it was nearly over. When Uther had finally dismissed him, he had practically run to his car and headed straight for the pub.

Now he found himself staring at his table of friends from across the room. Leon and Lance were mid-arm wrestle, Gwen, Elena, Sophia, Mithian and Morgana were grouped together probably gossiping about something, and Elyan and Percy were playing darts just over from the table. He didn’t even notice what he was looking for until he spotted Merlin and Gwaine huddled together over at the bar and his stomach dropped. Belatedly, he realised he was supposed to be getting over his stupid crush, and that desperately searching a crowded pub and getting disappointed when he saw merlin talking to someone wasn’t a great start. Still, he needed a drink. Arthur took a deep breath and walked over to the bar, a small part of him praying that he could somehow order a drink without Merlin noticing him.

‘Arthur!’ exclaimed Gwaine just a second later. No such luck then. Quickly trying to mask his grimace with a smile, Arthur turned to his colleagues, pretending to have only just noticed them.

‘Hi! Sorry, I didn’t see you guys there, I wasn’t sure you’d be here,’ he said, forcing himself to keep smiling.

‘Well I heard about this Friday tradition and I’ve got to say what a great tradition it is, good job Arthur. Merlin and I were just getting another round of drinks in, right babe?’

Arthur swore he heard his heart lurch. _Babe_?! He looked to Merlin, who just rolled his eyes.

‘Right. What’ll you have, Arthur?’

_Get over him_ hissed a voice in his head as Merlin smiled at him. He continued to force a smile back.

‘Er, just a Stella, cheers mate. Do you guys need a hand bringing them over?’ _Please say no, please say no._

‘Nah, we’re alright. They’ve got trays we can use - go say hi to the others and we’ll see you over there,’ said Gwaine, flashing an all-too-amused grin.

Not wanting to know what that grin meant, Arthur nodded and turned away from them, smile immediately dropping from his face. He looked over to the table to see that Morgana was already looking back at him, eyebrow raised slightly in concern. He shook his head slightly at her, willing her to get the message: _Not now. Not here_. For a moment Morgana pursed her lips and it looked like she wasn’t going to let it go, but then something in her eyes relaxed and she gave a subtle nod before returning her attention to the conversation going on around her.

‘Ha! I win!’ It seemed that the arm wrestle had finally come to a close and Lance was the victor. ‘Arthur! There you are. We were beginning to wonder if Uther had killed you or something.’

‘Not yet, but I was seriously considering it myself by the end. It’s been a long week, and after that I’m rather exhausted, so I’ll stay for one, as it’s the first week back and all, but no more.’

‘Fair enough, mate.’

‘Arthur dear, Gwen gave me a lift here, do you think you could give me a lift home if you’re leaving after one?’ Arthur settled his sister with a _look_ before begrudgingly agreeing to her request. She really wasn’t going to let it go.

 

By the time Arthur had taken his coat off and sat down, Merlin and Gwaine were back from the bar, each carrying a tray of drinks, which they distributed among the group before sitting down at the end of the table - Merlin next to Morgana and Gwaine opposite him, next to Arthur. Morgana nearly hit her head on the table multiple times as she watched her brother repeatedly brush off his friend. She could see that Merlin was going spare trying to work out what he had done. _It’s not you. It’s just my darling, idiot brother_.

‘Arthur,’ began Merlin excitedly, ‘I was just telling Gwaine some of the war stories of these pub outings. Do you remember the time when Gaius came along to one and ended up drinking Percy under the table?’

It almost physically pained Morgana to see the light fizzle out from behind Merlin’s eyes when Arthur offered little more than a grunt of agreement. She could have kissed Percy when he came over to tell the story in place of Arthur and Merlin regained a little of his smile at the admittedly hilarious account of what had been one of the greatest moments of her career.

 

‘What the fuck, Arthur?’ Morgana hissed once they left the pub.

‘What the fuck, what?’ Arthur returned, and Morgana was reminded of many conversations in their younger years that had resulted in childish shouting matches.

‘What the fuck was that with Merlin? The poor dear spent the entire time trying to work out what he’s done to upset you!’

‘I’m just doing what you said!’

‘I said ask him out not shut him out!’ Morgana was yelling now to match the tone of her brother.

‘No, you gave me two options: ask him out, or get over him.’

Morgana’s next words died in her throat. Arthur looked utterly defeated. She hadn’t thought he would actually ever take that path - she had only said it as the ridiculous second option to encourage him to pick the first.

‘Arthur,’ she began, softer now, ‘you’re in love with-’

‘I’m not in love with him,’ he snapped, cutting her off. ‘It’s just a stupid crush. I’m getting over it.’

‘By risking your friendship? You realise you are doing exactly what Uther wants. Don’t let him win. Merlin means the world to you - as a friend at least - you can’t deny that.’

‘I can't-’ for a moment it looked as though Arthur was going to continue to argue, but he shook his head and took a step back. ‘I’m not talking about this right now, Morgana. I’m too tired.’

Morgana was shocked. Suddenly, at those three words, she realized that she had completely been ignoring how exhausted Arthur looked. There were dark bags under reddened eyes, and he stood with a slump - something she knew had been trained out of him by their father. Basically, he looked terrible.

‘Do you still want a lift home?’ he wasn’t meeting her eye.

‘Yes. Thank you.’ They walked the rest of the way to Arthur’s car in silence.

Once inside, the silence continued and Morgana swore it was the longest it had ever taken her to get from the pub to her house. When they finally arrived, it took all of her will power to maintain politeness and not bolt straight to her front door.

‘Thanks for the lift.’

‘You’re welcome.’

‘Don’t push him away Arthur. He’s good for you.’

‘He’s too good for me, Morgs, that’s the problem. Look, I’m exhausted. I’ll call you tomorrow.’

Morgana fixed him with a sad look before sighing, nodding and getting out of the car. She walked up to her front door and turned back to to watch as Arthur drove away, praying that he would get some sleep rather than ending the night with a bottle in his hand.


End file.
